Local farmers split on genetically engineered crops

Tuesday

It seems like something out of science fiction — taking the DNA of one organism and replacing it with part of another.

Yet, the idea has been a part of the agriculture industry for years, with the debate centered around genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

A GMO isn’t necessarily an organism with manipulated DNA, however. What some people call GMOs most farmers call hybridized plants.

This is different from a plant that has been genetically engineered, or GE, said Ronald Wagner, the owner of Wagner Farms in Rome. Genetically engineered plants contain DNA that has parts swapped with the DNA from another organism (such as an animal).

He said these plants reduce a lot of risk in growing crops.

“(A) farmer's always going to buy the best traits he can buy for a farm,” Wagner said. “If something tags along with a trait that we don’t really need, then seed companies are in business to sell technology.”

A large majority of GE crops are engineered to withstand chemicals in herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. Though these chemicals kill unwanted organisms, they also kill unaltered crops.

So if farmers could grow crops that are immune to these chemicals, then they could produce a larger yield.

Could those same GE modifications find their way into meat at the grocery store?

It’s hard to tell, Miller said, because the modification typically occurs in proteins, making it almost impossible to separate from other proteins. With U.S. Food and Drug Administration comparison tests between GE and non-GE crops, Miller said it might not matter anyway.

“If there’s no significant difference between (an organic plant and a GE plant) in basic nutrition analysis, (the FDA is) basically saying these plants are the same,” he said.

It does matter, however, to Denise and Bernard Szarek, the owners of Szarek’s Greenhouse. Though they aren’t technically certified organic, they said they follow organic processes.

The Szareks short-term worry about GE crops is the taste. They said GE plants taste different — Wagner also said a type of GE corn has a soapy aftertaste.

The long-term worry for the Szareks is how the chemicals might appear in the future.

“I think you’re going to see a correlation (with GMO or GE products) to a lot of the illnesses our grandchildren are showing,” Denise Szarek said.

This does not mean organic growers don’t use chemicals. Though the Szarek’s don’t use them, they said organic growers can use chemicals that have passed an organic standard. Bernard Szarek said they are “natural (chemicals) that (are) safe for humans.”

“I want my vegetables as pure as they can be for me to eat,” Denise Szarek said. “I think most people want that.”

Acreage of herbicide-tolerant corn rose from 3 percent of planted acres in the United States in 1996 to 89 percent in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Likewise, herbicide-tolerant soybeans rose in planted acreage in the United States from 7.4 percent in 1996 to 94 percent in 2017.

Though no GMO or GE data was available for Oneida County, Szarek said GE-friendly Monsanto Co. is starting to buy smaller, organic seed companies. This could make it harder for these companies to do business, Szarek said, which could shrink the organic seed market.

“When you start playing around with plants like that,” Szarek said, “all sorts of changes happen.”